The sister of a man who died while on remand at the Otago Corrections Facility hopes some good comes from a police review of the investigation into his death.
Police yesterday confirmed they were reviewing the case of Richard John Barriball (42), who died at the Milburn jail in October 2010.
A coroner found Mr Barriball took his own life eight days after being admitted as a remand prisoner, and that he received sub-optimal care in the prison.
When remanded in custody, he was denied medication he had been prescribed outside of the prison.
His sister, Sue Barriball, and other family members were concerned about the Department of Corrections' policy for providing health care to prisoners.
Ms Barriball said prison staff should be held accountable and the department's medicine policy needed to be ''looked at''.
''All we can hope for is something positive to come of Rick's case,'' she said.
Dunedin Clutha Waitaki area commander Inspector Greg Sparrow also confirmed yesterday police were still investigating the death of another remand prisoner at the Otago Corrections Facility.
Jai Gordon Davis (30) died at the Milburn jail in February 2011.
A coroner's inquest for Mr Davis had not been held because police had been investigating his death since it happened.
Insp Sparrow said an investigation team had been working on the Davis case ''fulltime'' since April.
''The investigation has been complex and has developed as new information has come to hand,'' he said.
But police would not answer questions from the Otago Daily Times about the investigation.
Insp Sparrow said both investigations were ''current'' and police could not comment further until they were completed.
The Davis investigation was ''likely to conclude in the next few months'', he said.
Mr Davis' mother told the ODT she did not want to comment while the investigation was ongoing.
Wellington drug and alcohol counsellor Roger Brooking lodged a formal complaint with the Independent Police Conduct Authority in March about the handling of the cases.
He told the ODT yesterday he was pleased the police were investigating further.
''The families, in particular, are very gratified that after two years, police are finally taking these issues seriously and looking at what contributed to the deaths,'' he said.
Mr Brooking was also critical of the Corrections' medicine policy for prisoners.
He said under the policy, medical staff were discouraged from prescribing any drugs deemed addictive or tradeable by prisoners, but that included almost all painkillers.
Mr Brooking said Mr Barriball's death was a direct result of Corrections' medicine policy, which should be ''scrapped''.
The suicide rate in prison was 11% higher than in the community, which was due, in part, to the denial of ''proper'' medication and health care for prisoners, he said.
''There needs to be a commission of inquiry into prison health services. This is a policy written by management, not by medical people, and that's the problem.''
